Read and comment on this story from the Post Crescent on James Geenen who recently accepted his first Peace Corps leadership position as the operations director for the Paraguay, South America, division at:

*This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.

Kimberly man gets post in Paraguay

Peace Corps veteran volunteer heads operations

By Kara Patterson Post-Crescent staff writer

Kimberly native James Geenen knows this world has problems. As a veteran of the Peace Corps, he has spent more than half of his life seeking the solutions.

Geenen, 54, recently accepted his first Peace Corps leadership position as the operations director for the Paraguay, South America, division.

“The kind of work the Peace Corps does has always appealed to me,” Geenen said from Paraguay’s capital of Asuncion, where he is stationed with wife, Janine, an Appleton native.

About two months ago, Geenen took the helm of a crew of 28 American and Paraguayan staff, and 185 U.S. volunteers.

Geenen said his group has a lot of ground to cover. An economic crisis in neighboring Argentina cost many Paraguayans their jobs.

To combat poverty and crime, Geenen said, will take organization.

“I’m not talking about political groups,” he said. “I’m talking about women’s groups, youth groups, health groups, and showing how people can work together and trust one another.”

Geenen’s term will not last longer than five years. He said the Peace Corps also mandates a break of five years between administrative roles.

Geenen is known as a man who wants to save the world, according to his sister Kathy Mitchell of Darboy.

“He’s encouraged me, in my lifestyle, to go for what I think is right, and to be there for other people in Darboy, Wisconsin,” she said.

Kara Patterson can be reached at 920-993-1000, ext. 215, or by e-mail at kpatterson@postcrescent.com

Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Peace Corps - Headquarters; COS - Paraguay

PCOL495

.

Add a Message

This is a public posting area. Enter your username and password if you have an account. Otherwise, enter your full name as your username and leave the password blank. Your e-mail address is optional.